From the column of “Shut up already”

I am so sick and tired of people crying and whining about the bloody Fukushima Nuclear plant and how we’re all “GOING TO DIEEEEEE!!!!’

I hope people end up bankrupt buying iodine tablets. Morons.

At the edge of the Fukushima site the radiation levels are (as of this writing) between 1 and 3 millirems per hour.

Reference 1: An astronaut gets about 25,000 millirems per shuttle mission. That means a trip on the shuttle is like standing next to the Fukushima plant for between 347 days to 1041 days. Or roughly 1-3 years, for every ride on the shuttle.

Reference 2: One 150 gram banana has about .01 millirems of natural radiation. So, if you eat between 100 and 300 banana’s you get the Banana Equivalent Dose of Radiation as standing on the property of the Fukushima plant. Better stay away from the produce aisle!

Reference 3: A US worker is allowed under Federal Regulation up to 5000 millirems per year of exposure. This is considered a Safe level of exposure. (During WW2 it was 25000 millirems per year, or a Shuttle mission). 5000 millirems / 3 millirems per hour = 1667 hours of safe exposure or 70 days onsite before exceeding the Federally mandated Safe levels of exposure. Or 210 days at 1 millirem an hour.

Sure, any radiation leak is bad. But get a bloody grip already. People in the US are actually buying iodine tablets?? You realize your 5,500 miles away (in California). Right? You can’t really be so stupid as to think a small radiation leak from Japan is going to effect you. Right? Right??

9 comments

I believe you are missing the entire point to why people are concerned about the events unfolding in Japan. Your “dose” comparisons with astronauts is a pointless argument if one or more reactors were to go “Chernobyl”, especially considering the additional dangers involved with the more potent spent fuel rods stored next to the reactors. To use your words: You can’t really be so stupid as to think a Chernobyl x 3 catastrophe radiation leak from Japan is going to NOT effect you. Right? Right??

Kris beat me to the XKCD link (hey Kris!!!!!), but it’s a fantastic example of anyone who’s concerned about Fukashima going “Chernobyl” to see exactly what we’re dealing with. Look at that chart, it is enlightening. I’ll grant you that what’s going on in Japan is not a *good* thing, but I’d rather be in Fukashima’s parking lot right now than within fifty miles of Chernobyl a year later.

To give you an idea of how strong the earthquake was that damaged the plant, Fukashima was designed to handle an earthquake 100 times less powerful than the one that hit on March 11. In other words, the largest conceivable earthquake Japan thought it would realistically be hit with was 100 times less powerful than the one that hit. It is a testament to great engineering and safety codes that Fukashima came out as undamaged as it was. (having said that, there are definitely some lessons that will be learned, such as maybe not having your cooling pools on-site above the main reactor.)

Rich and I sometimes don’t agree on science (global warming is really happening ya knucklehead!!! 😀 ), but he’s spot on with his observation on this. Cable news wants us to panic because it makes great info-tainment, and there is no doubt that there will be some Japanese who suffer from health problems as a result of this disaster. But I venture to say that not a single person in California will suffer any ill effects from the fallout carried across the ocean, and we’re not going to see Hiroshima-type radiation sickness and death. This is a big deal, but it’s not a “ZOMG CONSUME MASS QUANTITIES OF IODINE TABLETS NOOOOWWW!!!” deal. It’s important we keep it in perspective.

I’m not saying Global Warming isn’t happening. I just question how much is caused by man and how much by Mother Nature. That and the waste of money and effort to lower CO2 by a couple of parts per miilion.

…on the radiation foo(), this is simply a predicate of ridiculous human instinct to ‘follow the herd’. A few people get spooked, then the rest of the cattle follow. The same phenomenon as we observe at the post office… lets all queue up in a single line with three open tellers.

I heard tell from a couple of fellows in the medical profession that red wine will protect you from the effects of very minor radiation much better than any tablet will. Clearly, it’s a Napa Valley Conspiracy (and one I can get behind whole-heartedly).